"My life would have been different if only... I'D GONE TO ART SCHOOL".

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Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 23, 2014 at 11:11am

Thanks -- sounds good (although I don't fully undersatand it, I fear).

I've written regular books, but not 'digital interactive' ones

What do you propose the sayings (1 or 2 series) and/or the 68 image 'summary'?

Byeeee!

Comment by Shellie Lewis | moved 2020! on September 23, 2014 at 7:30am

I can post a GIF here and the crazy thing about them is people love them and send them all over the place! It will be like a book that travels all over without you knowing. ☺ Although GIFs do roll over and may be confusing if people start in the middle. Another idea is a photo gallery where it starts at the beginning and people click to the next page. That would make the art a digital interactive book. That may work better. I would have to look into the process for that. I've done it in WordPress but it is hosted at that one site and will not get around as well as a GIF; people can transmit the link the the work but not transport the work itself like a GIF. ☺

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 22, 2014 at 8:10pm

Shellie, bonsoir!

More on the GIF thing.

My web is large, sprawling and,  well, more of a visual library than a web-site. It contains hundreds, nay thousands, of images.

I've just boiled these down to 68 -- there are 17 different categories of art (collages, lino prints, stones, aboriginal art, etc) and for each of these I've selected 3 works: that makes 51.

 Then there are 17 headings, one per category, on ... blue and green vinyl, like these:

I think they would make a good GIF series.

I have a general question: what would you plan to do with the GIF series? Post them here somehow, somewhere?*

Regards, Val

"There's a place for GIF,/somewhere a place for GIF..."

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 22, 2014 at 5:13am

Bonjour Shellie,

Thank you. That is a very kind offer.

Yes, I'd be delighted if you GIF-ed them. (I must admit that I had to look up what 'GIF' stood for). And I'd be very pleased to join you in this collaborative venture.

One problem though -- I think that a 2-3 second 'turnover' is too short. That time works for visual images -- like the goldish (especially)  and the Hamlet -- where nothing much happens. But some of my sayings are supposed to be (repeat 'supposed') deep & philosophical and are supposed to require some thought from the viewer. If the sayings change too quickly, then the viewer is just faced with a lot of words, with not really any time to think, "Hey that's an interesting one! I wonder what he meants by that? In my experience..., etc"

Who's the Hamlet person?

I have so far 171 different 'sayings'. 86 in the series 'We hold these truths to be self evident', and 85 in the current series, 'My life would have been different, if only...' There's about 50 in this 2nd series that I've already made up that are still to be posted.

I make them up a batch at a time, as it's too fiddly to get all the letters set out (there are 4 different sets), put up a couple of tables on the terrace to take the photographs, move Bianca off the letters, etc.

I was originally thinking of making this a 365 series, but I don't know how, if at all, I can move from 171 to 365. I need at least another 2 'concept' phrases, but don't have them yet. Inspiration will probably come one day.

So, thanks, and over to you....

val

Comment by Shellie Lewis | moved 2020! on September 21, 2014 at 9:19pm

Hey Val, 

I was thinking about this series and it is very much like the pages of a book. Would you like me to compile them into an animated GIF? I could have a new one appear every 2 or 3 seconds, and align it all in Photoshop. I don't know how long you plan to do this series but it seems there are a lot iterations you already created. That way all the art works can also exist together in one place as in a new form as a complete art work. I made the ATC GIF on my profile, which was over 100 layers deep. The Prince Hamlet below was a lot of layers, too. I did the photography for Hamlet and the koi pond. Let me know what you think about this collaboration idea. 

I am going to return to the conservatory and photograph the fish again using a tripod so the image frame does not move. I was just trying to get a nice picture for a painting reference and was bursting the camera, taking a lot of shots at once, and then thought it would be a pretty GIF.

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 19, 2014 at 5:16am

Guten morgen Shellie!

I know of a Red Lion in my ex-home town, Darlington. It's in the Market Square and I have drunk there many a time. The bar I most frequent when I return is called the 'Baydale Beck' -- Baydale because it's in that part of Darlington, and Beck because once upon a time there used to be a stream running through there, but it now seems to have dried up or just gone. My Dad used to drink there, too, because being on the outskirts of town, he reckoned he could drive home without being stopped by the police and breathalysed. I drink there, with my friend Doug, because on Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights, the centre of town is really a no-go area, with lots of drunken kids getting smashed, having fights, being very noise, etc. The Hospital A&E is very busy on those nights, while I drink in a quiet semi-countrt bar -- 2 or 3 pints of beer and some cheese and onion crisps.

I miss English beer. And Dutch/Belgian beer. French beer is lousy*, and I rarely drink it. There is a good Belgian beer, Leffe Blonde, on sale at my local here, and sometimes i will have a glass, but mostly drink pastis or rosé. However those are summer, warm-weather drinks, and as our Autumn and your Fall is coming quickly, I'll be switching to red wine soon.

I once bought a large old hand-painted pub sign, about 7 x4 feet -- but I don't remember the name of the pub. It hangs in the stairwell of my ex's house in Maastricht.

Cod & chips are my favourite. There's a fantastic fish'n'chippery near where my Mum used to live. It's called 'The Right Plaice'. I used to get Mum and I supper from there, walk home quickly with it, put it on pre-heated plates, and that was a great meal.

One of the reasons why fish'n'chips is so popular in the UK is that during WW11 fish and chips were among the few things that were not rationed. Most of everything else was -- meat, eggs, butter, sugar etc were rationed out to the ounce, and people had ration cards authorising their purchases. But potatoes grow, and grew, everywhere, and, being an island, fish were in abundance. (There were no giant Spanish factory trawler ships then, of course. Lots of submarines, though). I remember in the early 50's that eggs were a real treat -- one per person on Sunday, and that was all -- and it wasn't until the mid-50's that the rationning of sweets was finally lifted.

Thanks for the vid: yeah; the dancing is good.

It's very windy this morning, probably too windy to go cycling. We will see...

Au revoir de Val

Comment by Shellie Lewis | moved 2020! on September 19, 2014 at 2:42am

Hello Val,

Thrice Dead Fish sounds awful!! Once you bury a fish, it is now fertiliser. :p It should be banned as a human rights violation. 

I have a pub two blocks from my apartment, named - you guessed it- Red Lion. Some family moved to this street from England and were amazed they have a Red Lion here, too. I think the one near me is the only one in Chicago named Red Lion. My friend Phil went to University of Southampton and told me that is the most common name for any pub in the UK. They have all you can eat fish-n-chips Friday for $15. The fish are nice plump ones, I think haddock, and the batter is really perfect. The couple that owns the place are really nice.

So this Diesel Jeans ad from L.A. is super popular right now. It's really well done for the edit together of the dancers. 

 

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 18, 2014 at 12:34pm

stripgoose, you're only imagining that cavellini existed; i have it on good authority (mr and mrs cavellini -- they live just up the road) that he didn't.

Comment by stripygoose on September 18, 2014 at 6:47am

Maybe you could avoid the art-world & exhibitions struggle by having imaginary exhibitions like Cavellini.

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on September 18, 2014 at 5:16am

Goede morgen, Shellie.

Yeah, invest in as good a fountain pen as you can, look after it, buy some decent ink, clean the nib occasionally, and it will last you forever.

I will pass on the calcium advice to la famille Yannick.

People eat all sorts of things and it very much depends on what's available locally. My Norwegian friend told me the other day that he was invited for dinner at a Swedish couple's house, and  was served 'Thrice Dead Fish'. It's caught, half-cooked, buried and then I don't know what. But apparently it tastes and smells awful. It is banned on most air-lines, because there is a danger that it explodes when it's exposed to air. And, it does taste and smell horrible, says Alf-Ole., who was still chewing gum to get the taste of it out of his mouth a day later.

I think I can do without that.

I have a friend in Brussels who is a very fussy eater. He only eats things that have four legs. I shared  an office once with a guy in Rotterdam who wouldn't eat anything that was red. It takes all sorts.

I'll eat most things, but not eels or things with garlic. These days I'm not eating meat. Lots of eggs and cornflakes though (but not together). And fruit.

The locals here eat all sorts of fish that i'm not at all familiar with. If it can be BBQ-ed, I'll eat fish, but if it involves fancy cooking, I won't. I guess I'm a True Brit preferring fish and chips. With ketchup. And mushy peas.

The sea is so close that you can smell it when the wind is in the right direction. The sea is getting cold now, and it'll only be pleasant to bathe in it for another 3 or weeks or so, and then it will be wet suit time. I don't have a wet suit. My parftner does, and she occasionally goes with a wet suit sea walking club. They get lots of exercise pounding through the waves. But don't really go anywhere as they just walk, or wade, along the coast for half an hour or so in one direction, then turn around and come back.

There's lots of wind surfing here, and some kite surfing too. There's lots of wind here -- far too much wind, in fact. Tere are various European and World wind surfing championships held from time to time at Leucate which is about 10 miles away. of course, every time there is a championship the wind decides to stop blowing.

When the wind starts blowing hard (50 mph+) it goes on for days, and can be quite depressing. the wind came up last night, is blowing strong now (at 06.15) and I don't think it'll be possible to go for my usual early morning cycle ride when dawn breaks in an hour or so. I can't complain too much, though, as there has been a relatively windless 16 day sequence.

I've seen one or two paddle boarders, but it's not catching on in these parts. I think I'd rather kayak or canoe than paddle board.

There's no surfing here, but on the West coast, at Biarritz, it's very popular.

There's no sharks in these waters; the very occasional dolphin (I rescued a sick one once) and sometimes lots of nasty jelly fish.

On New year's Eve 1969  -- when i wasn't completely sober -- I decided to walk on water, well ice...on Lake Michingan at Chicago. I fell in, fortunately only up to my waist, and my lower parts nearly froze off.

Brrrrrrrrr!

It makes me comd just remembering it.

Byeee! Val

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